[CALUG] moving files between linux and windows

Tue Nov 7 16:34:17 EST 2017

I'd like to say thanks to those who responded to this 
use Q, as well as those who responded to my earlier queries.

A few clarification on suggestions:  and oooops 
 after items 1 - 4 .
TL; DR  ???

(I expect a lot of silence even if anyone reads as far 
as item 4.   However, think of my writing as cathartic to a degree.. )
Reply to most suggestions are mentioned in one of the items below.

1.   At present, my latest Q is--   Is there a distro that:

a.  solves this thumb drive problem ?
b.  Is easy to load the media codecs ?
c: provides the below specs ?

I have a xubuntu 17 install DVD I haven't tried yet.
One user suggested Mint.

(my main desire here is to watch short videos
and a: slow motion b: save the slow motion version 
c: convert files customize by either file type ( say, mpg or mov )
d: convert with file size reduction  and possible choice of
frame rate or resolution ?   ( note:  I need two different
Windows-made programs to do the same, and vlc etc
doesn't always work well or have the codecs... no matter what
I do:  .. as I said, I want to simplify.   

2.  I don't need a real sync situation, as it's a home
setup.  I like to "backup" use files from either 3 times
a year, although, well, I AM familiar with the THEORY 
of doing all the work on One and using the second for backup..

Unfortunately, having one desktop Win 7, one desktop
linux and a recent laptop, and carrying an Android with pix, videos
that I want to process back and forth have - for me--
complicated things...  It's a good thing I don't work in Admin !!
( help! )

3. My preference is Thumb drive as I can also use the same
"system" to transfer stuff to anyone elses computer by 
simply carrying it around.  this is appealing to me.

4.  I hate to complain - anymore -- it pisses people off-
but my recent trial of CentOS 6.8 and CentOS 7 have left
me feeling ( without the grundgy details ) of what it was like
20+ years ago to use Redhat 5, or 7...  NO, NOT RHE7..
Pretty screens... not user friendly.
It was suggested that I try Fedora: However, it's the same 
Company.   

my dreary details.
--------------------------------------------------------------

5.   The thumb drive thing is more complicated than
I initially thought -- as well as the larger hard disk I want to
use as backup ( no suggestions on that, but I figure it'd
 be similar to thumb drive soln.)....   I have an 8 gig thumb which
seems to work pretty well.   I've had the 32G for some time and 
used ti on two linux system for awhile, without validating
by plugging into a Win 7.   

6.
One of the Win symptoms that was annoying before I 
Decided to try different methods - rather than spend the same
amount of time or more -- trying to google either outdated, 
wrong link, or just crappy forums/maillists.. was that when I 
plugged the 32g into the usb, the progress bar would
scroll green and scroll and slow and go slower and slower,,
and then just stop..   So, I sometimes scratched my b-lls 
and put it aside... and aside.. and aside ...

 (DOH!)

7. 
The Windows builtin format did select FAT32 and set the kb per...
at 16kb.   I had no clue what a exFAT was.  And at present I don't 
know if Linux does.

8.  CentOS has 2 utilites in gui:

Disk Utility 2.30 by Redhat.  # leaves a few things to be desired..
GParted 0.19   # leaves a few things to be desired: BUT:
it WILL clear a thumb of format, so Windows can do something.
And doesn't support many formats.  But it tell you that with a nice table.

9.   I considered wifi, but the two wifi cards I have aren't 
linux compatible, and OK, I can probably buy one at
Microcenter  (I still might )...   Still doesn't solve the 
"Carry software" around problem .

10.  Over a decade ago, I had a small network setup.
I simply had hopes ( since I'm also  simplifiying my life )
of avoiding it:  I'm not comfortable in having to think about
if/how my connections are up or not when I want to transfer, 
whether the Ethernet is seen as a local net or route to
external ( usually from linux ) and having to "fix it", or have it
go down when I do a dialup ppp.

11.  The CentOS 6.8 dialup with wvdial does NOT put the 
dynamic DNS servers  in resolve.conf:  I had to manually
edit the file supposedly set by NetWorkManager - which 
gui no longer has nice dialup integrated, and I haven't
met or know anyone who seems to actually "know" 
NetworkManager.... ( and I'm a little beyond researching
every program more than a try it out basis.)

12: After an attempt to update, and then downdate the CentOS7 kernel,
 the HD is now unbootable ( grub shows ).  So Im back to the 6.8.

THANKS again !!  for the assistance..
no decisions have been made yet on what 
I'm going to do.   Although simply getting a couple
more 8 gig thumb drives seems appealing, instead 
of using up 4gig DVD's ( RW's )  to carry around ..

Walt ....

----
 The government is lawless, not the press (people).
 ( [Supreme Court] Justice Douglas re: The Pentagon Papers )

--------------------------------------------
On Tue, 11/7/17, Thomas Delrue <delrue.thomas at gmail.com> wrote:

 Subject: Re: [CALUG] moving files between linux and windows
 To: "Bernard Karmilowicz" <karmilow at intencorp.com>, "Walt Smith" <waltechmail at yahoo.com>
 Cc: "CALUG mailing list" <calug at unknownlamer.org>
 Date: Tuesday, November 7, 2017, 2:05 PM

 On 11/07/2017 01:46 PM, Bernard
 Karmilowicz wrote:
 >> I want to easily
 move user files between Windows and Linux. 
 > 
 > The easiest way
 I've found to move files between two computers (when
 one
 > of the computers is running Linux)
 is to:
 > 
 >     1.
 put both boxes on a local private network (if both boxes
 have
 > Ethernet interfaces then
 connecting them together using a Cat5
 >
 crossover* cable quickly creates a simple network)
 >     2. configure each boxes'
 network interface for the private network**
 >         Linux example: #
 /sbin/ifconfig eth0 192.168.12.3 netmask
 > 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192,168.12.0
 >     3. start a ftp daemon (e.g.
 /usr/sbin/proftpd, /usr/sbin/vsftpd) or
 >
 a ssh daemon (e.g. /usr/sbin/sshd) on the Linux box
 >     4. start a ftp or sftp client on
 the Windows box to copy files
 > between
 the two computers

 Do
 you have a need to keep them in sync or is it a one-time
 move?

 Have you considered
 USB drives or SD cards? Never underestimate the
 bandwidth of a Volvo Station Wagon filled with
 those!

 https://what-if.xkcd.com/31/